Can you save me, from myself?
by Ryuu-kun
Summary: After Naruto fails to bring back Sasuke, everyone is sent to a remote hidden acadamy to train for the return of the Akatsuki. Little do the genins know that the real reason is to hide Naruto and his Kyuubi, who are now a danger to the world. NaruHina
1. Prolouge: The Return

**Can you save me…from myself?**

Prolouge: The Return

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any related items, just the storyline.

_Genre: Romance/Action/Drama_

_Pairs: Naruto/Hinata (Main) Neji/Tenten, Sakura/Sasuke, Ino/Shikamaru, Temari/Shikamaru_

_Author's Notes: I'll attempt to keep as much to their personalities as possible, though their personalities may change throughout the story. Also, this story focuses are Naruto and Hinata, the others may or may not appear throughout the story, the pairs are simply listed to display for the readers which characters will be with whom in this story._

_First, a quick review of Japanese:_

"-san", "-kun", "-senpai", "-sama", "-chan". "-sennin", "-sensei":_ These are honorific titles, meant to show the relationship between two people and used much like Mr., Mrs., Lady, Lord. etc in English. I'll go from formal to informal. _

"_-Sennin" – the equivalent of master. It can be used either by a servant to their master or to call someone the master of something. For example, Jiraiya is the 'Gama-sennin', or Frog Master._

"_-Sama"- is the equivalent of Lord or Lady, depending on who it is pertaining to. _

"_-Sensei" – Literally, teacher._

"_-San" - symbolizes that you know the person and respect them, but they aren't a 'close friend'. This is used either between an adult and a child, from child to parent, employee to boss, or between two people who know one another but are not close._

"_-Senpai" – Senpai is used between students. A younger student will call an older 'Senpai' to show seniority. This is between two close people and since it shows seniority, it is almost exclusively used with a younger student (such as in a school) to an older. Pronounced "Sen-pie"_

"_-Kun"- This is used between two friends, usually two close friends or people who like one another. Though it is not male only, it is usually used for males as –chan implies femininity. This can also be used between family members (brothers, father to son)_

"_-Chan" – Chan is usually used for girls, especially between friends and implies femininity. Rarely does it apply to men, unless it is an insult or teasing. Chan can also be used like Kun between two people who like one another (boyfriend/girlfriend). This can also be used between family members (sisters, mom to daughter)_

_-Notes-_

_Family names come first (Hyuuga Hinata) and if you address someone by their first name it implies familiarity or closeness._

_-Letters are sometimes pronounced differently in Japanese Romanji.-_

"_A" is pronounced 'aw' (awful)_

"_E" is pronounced 'eh' (met)_

"_I" is pronounced 'ee' (meet)_

"_O" is pronounced 'oh' (cold) or 'oo' (mood, usually at the end of a word/name. Kimimaro (Kee-mee-mar-oo) _

'_U' is almost never pronounced, or pronounced very little, when using the syllable 'su' (and in some other cases). For example, Naruto is 'Nar-to' (special case) and Sasuke is 'Sas-kay' (syllable 'su'). However, when two are used, it makes 'u' pronounced 'you' (Hyuuga) or 'oo' (mood). For example, Hyuuga is pronounced 'Ha-you-ga' (y is not a vowel)_

"_Ei" is _not_ pronounced 'ay'. It is a longated 'e' as in 'met'_

"_R" is pronounced as 'dd' in 'Eddy'. It is used to substitute for the 'l' sound in foreign words._

"_G" is always like 'gone', never 'gin'_

"_Ch'" is always like 'chocolate', never 'charade'_

"_Y" can't be a vowel. Therefore, another vowel is added. Instead of 'Toy-o-ta' it is 'To-yo-ta'. It can also be used as slide between two letters, such as in Hyuuga or Tokyo._

_Please note: This is an in English examples with Romanji using the English alphabet_

_-Japanese Words-_

_Gomen (nasai) (ne) - (I'm) sorry_

_Arigato, Doumo – Thank you_

_Hai – yes_

_Iya or Ile – no_

_Kawaii – Cute, adorable, lovable_

_Kage – Shadow_

_Aishiteru – I love you_

_Ano, Eto – Used like 'um' or 'er', a pause word used to display hesitancy_

_Hentai – Pervert, Perverted_

_Linazuke – Fiancé_

_Baka – Idiot_

_Masaka – Impossible, This can't be happening_

_Nani? – What?_

_Ohayou, Koniichiwa, Konbanwa – Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening_

_Itadakimasu – I receive (Before eating a meal)_

_Banzai, Kanpai – Hooray! Cheers! Good luck!_

_Sumimasen – Excuse me… (Can be used to get someone's attention. "Sumimasen, Are you Naruto?")_

_Mata ne – See you, Later, Cya (Casual)_

_Han - half_

_Kuso – Sh.t_

_Check http:www.learn-japanese.info/_ _for more info, vocabulary, or learning Japanese. I hope that helps some pronunciation errors or misunderstanding in this story or others. Please note that all references are based on English. Any other language will be difficult to compare to._

"" – _Talking_

_Italics – Thoughts, or emphasis_

_(AN:….) – is an Author's Note_

_PoV Name – is a point of view change. These will be few and far between, as I prefer third person. However, important chapters or drama related ones may have PoV changes._

_- Is a scene change._

_This story starts shortly before Naruto fails to bring back Sasuke. The first chapter is simply an introduction and a kind-of 'catch-up' on what's happened so far. I hope the fight scene is okay._

_-Ryuu_

* * *

Hinata stood on the wall near the north gate, looking out at the forest in dismay and quietly wiping the tears from her eyes. Her father had been angry at her again after she lost to Hanabi-chan… She sighed and looked at the ground sadly. She had been coming here the last few days after she had fights with her father, waiting for _him_ to come back. Her father had always hated her, her clan hated her… she even hated herself for being so weak. But _he_ had never hated her. _He_ had never thought she was weak. _N-naruto-kun, I hope you're okay…_ Hinata thought, looking out at the trees waving in the wind as she sighed again and settled in for another night of waiting. She'd wait forever, if that's what it took. 

_Flashback_

Hinata could have sworn she felt her neck crack as her father's slap fell across her face. She reigned in her tears, knowing that she would only receive another slap if she displayed any weakness.

"You're 12 years old and you can't even beat your _seven year old sister_. Perhaps you're not worthy to be the heir, you couldn't lead this clan even if you _were_ strong. You're worthless, I can't believe I raised a daughter _this weak!_" Her father's face looked down on her in scorn and anger as she held her cheek, which was slowly turning red from the force of the slap.

"G-gomen n-nasai, otou-san …" Hinata replied as she looked at the floor, holding back her tears.

"That's all I ever hear from you. 'I'm sorry, father'. Stop apologizing!" He glared at her and looked ready to hit her again, the hatred in his blank eyes seemed apparent to Hinata.

"I-I'll become stronger O-otou-san…"

"So you always say, but I never hear anything but promises. Remove yourself from my sight immediately! I have no wish to look upon failures."

"H-hai, Otou-san…" Hinata sniffed and ran out into the night, the tears running down her face in rivets as she ran.

_End Flashback_

And so she sat here, up on the wall, looking out on the north forest in hopes that Naruto would return soon. The tears escaped from her eyes again and she tried futilely to wipe the away. She'd always be weak, she knew, nothing would ever change that. Hinata sighed again and allowed the tears to fall, beginning to sing quietly to herself and she stared at the empty, hopeless forest in front of her. The song was one she had known since childhood, the only lullaby she had ever learned. Her grandmother as she had told her that her mother had died giving her birth and that this song had been written only a few days before she died. Father, Hanabi-chan, and the whole clan hated it because of the memories it brought up. But to Hinata, it was her only comfort in a world where everyone hated her, including herself.

Ue o muite arukou  
Namida ga kobore nai you ni  
Omoidasu haru no hi  
Hitoribotchi no yoru

Ue o muite arukou  
Nijinda hoshi o kazoete  
Omoidasu natsu no hi  
Hitoribotchi no yoru

Shiawase wa kumo no ue ni  
Shiawase wa sora no ue ni

Ue o muite arukou  
Namida ga kobore nai you ni  
Nakinagara aruku  
Hitoribotchi no yoru

Omoidasu aki no hi  
Hitoribotchi no yoru

Kanashimi wa hoshi no kage ni  
Kanashimi wa tsuki no kage ni

Ue o muite arukou  
Namida ga kobore nai you ni  
Nakinagara aruku  
Hitoribotchi no yoru

_(Translation at bottom of chapter)_

Hinata sighed and looked at the waving trees once again, her heart feeling desolate and alone as she hoped and prayed for his return. She knew that she'd wait for him forever if she had to.

But she'd never tell him…

* * *

Naruto grinned. 

Here he was, fighting his rival, his brother, his friend. A fight he had waited his whole life for! Well, maybe not his _whole_ life, but ever since he met Sasuke. A fight to decide who was stronger, once and for all. All thoughts of bringing Sasuke back, of his promise to Sakura, of anything was instantly forgotten the moment this fight started. The fight was everything. All that mattered was winning.

"I'll beat you Sasuke! I'll prove to you I'm not a failure! I'm going to be Hokage!" Naruto shouted into the trees where he thought Sasuke was hiding, following his words up with a few kunai and rushing in after them, another kunai ready to attack Sasuke. He jumped through the bushes and found…

A log…

He turned around as quickly as he could, looking around wildly but he didn't see Sasuke anywhere.

"You shouldn't yell out and give your position away, baka…" The voice came from behind him and he swung around wildly, shocked to see Sasuke standing behind him with a quiet smirk on his face.

"There's a difference between me and you, Naruto. You can't defeat me. And now, I'll show you why... Curse Seal Release: Level 2." Black symbols immediately began to cover half of Sasuke's body and his eyes flashed red from the Sharingan, the power flowing off him in waves. Naruto stepped back, surprised. Sasuke smirked and pulled out a kunai, rushing at him.

_Kuso…He's too fast… _Naruto thought right before Sasuke's blow slammed into him, the kunai penetrating deep into his stomach. Sasuke whirled around began to pummel Naruto with blows, hitting a few major points before ending with a kick that sent him into a nearby tree. The resounding crack echoed as the tree broke and Naruto slid to the base of it, hitting the ground hard.

Naruto groaned and coughed up blood as he struggled to stand up again, looking over at Sasuke. _Kuso…What am I gonna do? I'm still exhausted from my fight with Kimimaro… And I don't know if I can tap into the Kyuubi's chakra… But if I don't, he'll beat me! _Naruto's thoughts were interrupted as Sasuke advanced on him again, forcing him to move. He was barely able to move out of the way before Sasuke's fist slammed into the tree, destroying what was left of it, and still got clipped at Sasuke spun around quickly and aimed a kick at him. _I've got to tap into Kyuubi… It's my only hope… But how! _Naruto held his palms together and closed his eyes, concentrating on the flow of chakra with-in himself and finding the Kyuubi's chakra in his center, near the seal. But he couldn't get at it. Naruto concentrated harder, and suddenly the Kyuubi's chakra ran through him. He could feel the chakra building up inside him and overflowing him as his eyes changed to red, cat-like slits. He reopened his eyes to see Sasuke staring at him from a few feet away, smirking.

"Huh... another new trick of yours, Naruto? Or just another pathetic attempt to make yourself less of a failure?"

"I don't need any new tricks to kick your ass, Sasuke!"

"Baka… Don't be so overconfident. The only thing that will do for you..," Sasuke rushed at him, advancing with shurikens and pulling out a kunai as he went, "…Is get you killed!" Naruto pulled the kunai out of his stomach and brought it up just in time to block Sasuke's attack. Naruto twisted his body and spun lower, sweeping a kick underneath Sasuke's feat. Sasuke dodged, bringing the blunt end of his kunai down on Naruto's head at the same time Naruto angled his own bloody shuriken up into Sasuke's chest. They broke apart and jumped back, both breathing heavily, Sasuke nursing a chest wound and Naruto one on his head. (_AN: Though with his thick skull, it's doubtful that he noticed ;) )_ Sasuke growled, looking annoyed and Naruto just grinned.

"We're evenly matched Sasuke!"

"No, Naruto. We will never be evenly matched. I…" Sasuke looked up at him, his red eyes flashing as he looked into Naruto's same and yet opposite ones, "_Will_ kill you…" Sasuke hands flew together in a flurry of seals. His eyes concentrated on Naruto who had begun his own seals, his hands flying together in motions Sasuke had seen him use in nearly every battle he had ever fought. _Heh… So predictable Naruto…_

"Katon Housenka…"

"Kage Bunshin no Justu!"

Hundreds on Naruto's clones appeared in front of Sasuke, grinning at him. Their faces changed to shock as Sasuke's fireballs flew out at them, making them all change to smoke as soon as they were touched.

"You're too predictable Naruto. Even a blind fool could see you were going to use that Jutsu. However, now it's too late for you…"

From out of the smoke had appeared the shurikens that had been hidden with-in the fireballs, too many to dodge. _Kuso… _Naruto threw off two shurikens and dived to the side just as the shurikens reached him. Half the shurikens hit him full force and he was thrown back, his body flying along the ground and landing against the tree once again. Sasuke easily deflected the two shurikens onto the ground near him and stared at Naruto's bloody body.

"It's over Naruto…."

"Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!"

_What… Kuso…! _Sasuke cursed under his breath and spun around as the 'Naruto' he had been looking at disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto stood behind him, grinning as he picked up the other shuriken he had thrown. He twirled it in his hand, grinning wider as he yelled at Sasuke.

"Ero-sennin taught me a few good tricks, Sasuke."

"Feh… So you were able to dodge it Naruto, congratulations…" Sasuke rolled his eyes but cursed at himself. _How the hell could I have missed him! Fooled by Naruto, of all the…_, "Well, Naruto, let's finish this…" Sasuke held one hand by his wrist and it began to glow, the power flowing off it in waves. Naruto grinned and summoned another clone, preparing his own technique.

"This is the end Naruto…"

"For you, Sasuke! Rasengan!"

"Chidori!"

The two rushed at one another, their attacks combining with explosive force. Jiraiya and Kakashi were not there to stop them this time and the resounding force knocked them both off their feet, destroying everything nearby in the process. The trees around them blackened instantly, as if burned, and everything was cleared down to solid rock for a hundred feet around.

As the smoke cleared, Naruto looked up from where he had been thrown forcefully into a tree, almost fifty feet away. His body was bloody and beaten, covered in cuts, bruises, and barely able to stand. Sasuke lay against another tree across from him, not in much better shape. He attempted to stand wearily and fell to his knees, coughing up blood. He glared at Naruto, his eyes showing nothing more or less than pure hatred.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu…" The clearing was enveloped in mist and Naruto could vaguely make out another ninja walking over to Sasuke and pick him up, slinging him across his back. Naruto felt rather than saw Sasuke look over at him from across the clearing.

"G…Give up…..and go…home, Naruto…. You can't save people from themselves…."

Naruto blinked as the darkness began to close in around his eyes. _No… I can…I _will _save them… I promised…Sakura-chan, forgive me… _The darkness closed in around him and the last things he saw were Sasuke's Sharingan eyes reflected in the mist.

* * *

Hinata gasped. 

Something was wrong. Naruto was supposed to be back two days ago and a team of jounin who had had been sent out this morning to look for them. But she could feel it in her heart, something was wrong. The sun had just set an hour ago and the jounin were still not back. _Naruto-kun…_

Just then she heard shouting by the gate and calls for a medic. _Oh… N-no… Naruto-kun!_ Hinata ran over to the north gate where the team of jounins was standing, out of breath and looking haggard. On five stretchers were laid out Shikamaru, Neji-onee-san, Kiba-kun, Chouji, and… Naruto-kun… Hinata hung off to the side and watched as they were carried them all to the hospital. All were bloody and beaten, but Naruto looked worse of all, his clothing stained so much that it almost looked red. She could hear the medics whispering about how he might not make it and fear jolted her heart. _Oh God… Please let Naruto-kun be alright!_

* * *

Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!" 

"Whaaat! Can't you see I'm busy!" A long line of drool was clearly apparent on Tsunade's desk as she raised her head to peer at Gai. She obviously wasn't doing anything, as the stack of files that was always next to her seemed to have doubled overnight. The room was cluttered, books lying all over the floor and papers strewn everywhere. It was in complete disarray and Tsunade sighed again when she realized who it was that had walked into her office.

"THE EVER VIBRANT YOUTH HAVE RETURNED!" Gai screamed in obvious excitement as jumped about the room, making her office even more of a mess. Tsunade sighed and rubbed her ear. _Did he always have to be so loud? _

"Don't yell, baka… What the hell are you talking about?"

"HOKAGE-SAMA! THE YOUTH HAVE RETURNED! BUT ALAS, FOR THEIR MISSION WAS A FAILURE AND INJURIES WERE GREAT! AH, THE POOR, CUT DOWN SPRING OF YOUTHFUL-"

"You idiot!" Tsunade yelled at him as she grabbed her cloak, pushed him aside and headed out the door for the hospital, "They'll need treatment right away! Get the medical staff on it Gai! Immediately!"

"I will perform my duty for the good of Konoha, Hokage-sama! And if I can not do so in 5 minutes, I will do five thousand laps around Konoha!"

"Just get the med staff, baka!"

_

* * *

_

_N-naruto-kun… Hinata sat by Naruto's bedside in the hospital, holding his hand in hers. He had been unconscious ever since they had brought him in and his breath was shallow and far between. None of the medics knew if he was going to make it but they all assured her that Hokage-sama would be on her way soon to check up on him. She just didn't know if 'soon' would be soon enough. _

"I told you, I had to check on the others as well! Naruto can't possibly be _that_ injured, there were only supposed to be four shinobi and he has…" Tsunade broke off as she stepped into Naruto's room, staring at him. Naruto was covered from head to toe in cuts and bruises, his dry blood staining the sheets. _I…never expected…something like this…_ Tsunade growled and cursed herself for not coming sooner, then blinked as she noticed Hinata, sitting next to Naruto's bedside and holding one of his hands in her lap. _She really does care about him, doesn't she? Darn brat more dense thanI thought he was..._

"Hinata…?"

Hinata jumped up out of the chair with a guilty start and spun around to stare at Tsunade, then looked at the ground immediately and began to play with her fingers in a nervous habit, "H-hai, Tsunade-sama…?"

_Man, that girl really needs some confidence… Perhaps I do need to consider switching out the Genin teams sometime soon. Shino and Kiba aren't exactly the ones to build up her confidence… "_What are you doing here, Hinata?"

"A-ano… I-I was making sure N-naruto-kun was okay…" Hinata blushed furiously and trained her eyes on her shoes, hoping Tsunade wouldn't notice that she had blushed when she said 'Naruto-kun'.

"You don't need to worry now Hinata; we'll have Naruto back to his normal, hyperactive self in a few days…" _I hope… His injuries look extensive…_ "But, you'll need to leave for awhile while we treat him, okay? I'll send someone along as soon as he wakes up."

"Ano… A-arigato Tsunade-sama…" Hinata curtsied hurriedly and rushed out the door, leaving Tsunade shaking her head as she looked at Naruto. _You'd better be okay, brat. If you don't wake up, I'll follow you to wherever you go and yell at you for leaving that girl behind. If I can even get that through your thick head…_ Tsunade pushed a small button on the wall to ring for the other doctors and sighed as she bent over Naruto, ready to get to work.

_

* * *

_

_(Song Translation) _

I look up as I walk  
So that the tears won't fall  
Remembering those spring days  
But I am all alone tonight

I look up as I walk  
Counting the stars with tearful eyes  
Remembering those summer days  
But I am all alone tonight

Happiness lies beyond the clouds  
Happiness lies up above the sky

I look up as I walk  
So that the tears won't fall  
Though the tears well up as I walk  
For tonight I'm all alone

Remembering those autumn days  
But I am all alone tonight

Sadness lies in the shadow of the stars  
Sadness lurks in the shadow of the moon

I look up as I walk  
So that the tears won't fall  
Though the tears well up as I walk  
For tonight I'm all alone

_

* * *

_

_That's it for the Prolouge, hope you enjoyed it. Please Review (I appreciate critisim, so don't hesitate to speak up if you see something out of place. I tried to stay IC as much as possible, but if you see something just totally out of character _please_ tell me. Oh, and praise is always nice too. Btw, even though this is mostly NaruHina, I will be adding others in. I am open to suggestions as to what order i add pairs in, so please give me some opinions._

_Updates: Fight scene wording changed (Sasuke should not have known about Kyuubi),Ages at beginnig changed (Hanabi to 7, Hinata to 12), Hospital scene changed (Tsunade's shouts reworded slightly) _-Courtesy of Xoni Newcomer, Thanks for the input

_Thanks for the reviews all!_

-Ryuu


	2. Chapter 1: Departure

**Can you save me…from myself?**

Chapter 1: Departure

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any related items, just the storyline.

_Genre: Romance/Action/Drama_

_Pairs: Naruto/Hinata (Main) Neji/Tenten, Sakura/Sasuke, Sakura/Lee, Ino/Shikamaru, Temari/Shikamaru, Akita/Kiba (Akita is a new Genin added in)_

_AN: I apologize for the wait everyone. I was hoping to see the next episode of Naruto (120) so that I could add in Naruto's story about Kimimaro but it seems it doesn't air till February 2nd sigh. Anyhow, I decided I felt like writing… or typing… or whatever and am going to try and get two more chapters up this weekend._

"" – _Talking_

_Italics – Thoughts, or emphasis_

_(AN :….) – is an Author's Note_

_PoV Name – is a point of view change. These will be few and far between, as I prefer third person. However, important chapters or drama related ones may have PoV changes._

_Also, please note that I will be starting to attempt to put the starting date at the beginning of each chapter, so as to keep track of time etc. as well as character birthdays, ages, etc. etc._

_And lastly, here is a birthday list for the major characters in the story. For a full list check out?pagecontent/information/indepth/birthday.html_

_Also note that all birthdays are _authentic _and come from the Official Naruto Character Databook. I did not make them up. And if you notice the beginning of this chapter, it is December 19th, meaning everyone has aged a year except Hinata, who is still twelve._

_-January:-  
19 - Gaara of the Desert  
23 - Aburame Shino_

_-February:-_

_14 - Shinaru Akita_

_15 - Teimichi  
_

_-April:-_

_21 – Sawaki Reiko  
_

_-March:-  
09 - Tenten  
28 - Haruno Sakura_

_-May:-  
01 - Akimichi Choji_

_15 - Kankuro_

_-June:-  
09 - Uchiha Itachi_

_-July:-  
03 - Hyuuga Neji  
07 - Akamaru, Inuzuka Kiba  
23 - Uchiha Sasuke_

_-August:-  
23 - Temari_

_-September:-  
22 - Nara Shikamaru  
23 - Yamanaka Ino_

_-October:-  
10 - Uzumaki Naruto_

_-November:-  
27 - Rock Lee_

_-December:-  
27 - Hyuuga Hinata_

_-Ryuu_

* * *

December 17th 

Naruto sighed.

Why did he have to be stuck in this stupid hospital! He was perfectly fine now, well mostly fine anyhow. Yet Tsunade no baka made him lay in this stupid bed, day in, day out. He wanted out of here already, so he could start training again. If he trained hard enough, he would beat Sasuke and then show him who the real failure was.

"N-naruto-kun…?" Naruto looked up to see Hinata standing in the doorway nervously, looking down at the floor and holding a small package in her hands. _Hinata's been coming everyday ever since I've been hurt… Not that I mind, but I wonder why… She's a bit strange…_

"Hey Hinata! Is Tsunade-obaa-san gonna let me out of here yet? I need to start training!" Naruto sat up in the bed and grinned at her, then winced slightly from the pain. Despite it having been a week since he had been taken to the hospital, his wounds were still painful.

"N-naruto-kun, you know H-hokage-sama said that you'd b-be let out tomorrow…" Hinata kept her eyes trained carefully on the ground and held her small package against her chest.

"What! I never heard Obaa-san say that… Maybe she does say important stuff sometimes…" Naruto thought about it for a moment; then quickly tossed off the idea, "Nah. Hey, what's in the there Hinata?" Naruto pointed at the package she was holding against her chest rather nervously.

"A-ano… I-It's for you N-naruto-kun…" Hinata replied, stuttering slightly and seeming reluctant to give it to him.

"Really! You got me something? Wow, that's really nice Hinata, nobody usually does that stuff for me." Naruto exclaimed, looking at the package curiously.

"A-ano… H-here Naruto-kun…" Hinata quickly handed him the rectangular package and backed away, looking at the floor and playing nervously with her fingers again, "A-ano… I don't know i-if you'll like it… I-I…" However, Naruto didn't seem to notice and was already ripping open the package excitedly. Finally, after a minute or so, he managed to open it enough to see that it was a small black book with the title _A_ _Ninja's Guide to Jutsu Strategy_.

"Wow Hinata! This is great, now I can train even when Obaa-san has me stuck in this stupid bed. Thanks, now I'll definitely be able to beat Sasuke." Naruto smiled, one of his fox-like grins, and opened the book immediately.

"Y-you're welcome, N-naruto-kun…" Hinata replied, her cheeks turning slightly pink as she blushed at his words. However, Naruto now seemed completely absorbed in the book. Hinata sighed slightly, slowly moving toward the door and leaving quietly to go check on Kiba-kun and the others.

About twenty minutes later…

"Hey Hinata, did you…" Naruto looked up and blinked. _Huh? Where'd she go…? Must have had to go do something… Oh well…_ Naruto grinned and looked back at the book, reading intensely. As soon as he was out of here, he planned on going straight to the training area to try some of these out on Sakura-chan and the others.

* * *

Tsunade looked at the large group of village elders assembled in her audience chamber, which before had seemed rather large, now seemed rather small. _I'll have to get it enlarged… but for now I have more important things to worry about. They are definitely not going to like the news…_ Tsunade raised her arm and waited as the talk slowly died down, looking out at the people gathered. 

"I have an announcement to make. I apologize for calling everyone here, but I believe this concerns you all. Now, I know you're not going to like this but..." Tsunade took a deep breath and sighed, knowing she was going to get an earful for this, "I have decided, along with Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai, that, for an indefinite period of time… We have decided to send a group of select Genin away from the village to training facility whose location shall remain hidden for the time being, due to certain circumstances that I will address after I announce the roster. Therefore, the Genin that will be included are: Aburame Shino, Akimichi Chouji, Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Neji, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Rock Lee, Shinaru Akita, our new Genin, Tenten, Uzumaki Naruto, and Yamanaka Ino, along with the Chuunin Nara Shikamaru. " And then the roar of anger came. Tsunade had expected this of course, considering many of the Genin's parents were here.

_Well, it's natural that they'd be angry… After all, I am sending away all their children, or at least the ones associated with Naruto, and haven't even told them why yet. Well, if they'd all shut-up for a second…_

"I haven't finished!" Tsunade shouted at them, standing and her eyes flashing in anger until they all quieted down. "Now, the reason for this is twofold. First, the selected Genin and Chuunin are highly skilled and all display certain attributes that place them above other Genin, and as such, we wish to train them in a different environment." The looks around the hall were suspicious, obviously not trusting a word she said. _That's a load of crap and they all know it. I told Kakashi it would never work. …Why did I listen to him in the first place? He's as big a pervert as Jiraiya is…_

"And secondly… We have decided that it would be better in the Kyuubi Capsule were hidden for an indefinite amount of time, or at least until we have more information on the whereabouts and plans of the group called Akatsuki." This time the roar was twice as loud but finally one person stood, the person she new would be her main opposition in this project: Hyuuga Hiashi (_AN: Hinata's father. Neji's father is Hizashi.)_

"And why should we release our children with that monster, _Hokage-sama_…? Why should we allow _our children_ to journey to some hidden, unknown academy just to help hide that _thing_ that attacked our village thirteent years ago?"

"Well, I am simply attempting to protect them. They are associated with Naruto and therefore should go with him, since they will obviously be targeted if Naruto suddenly disappears." _That one was Kurenai's idea. But I don't think they'll buy this one either…_

"Well if that's the case, perhaps we should just give the Kyuubi brat over to the Akatsuki. That would solve all of our problems, would it not?" Hiashi replied, a small smirk apparent on his face.

_He _knows _that they all hate Naruto… He's trying to use that against me. Well perhaps I can use something else against him. Kurenai had better have been right about this… _"I have heard of a similar situation, Hiashi, which took place only a little while ago. As I have heard, the Cloud Village seemed to have a slightly upper hand on you and demanded that you be turned over to them. Perhaps we should consider judgment on allowing Hiashi to be taken in your place, considering that you believe that Naruto deserves to be handed over to the Akatsuki. Should we not make it fair, and do the same for you?" _That was low, since he lost a clan member that day, but I _need _to get Naruto out of the village, and he can't go alone… and I am definitely _not_ sending him out with Jiraiya again!_

Were looks able to kill, Hiashi's glare would have sent Tsunade ten feet under the ground at that moment. "My apologies, _Hokage-sama_. Perhaps you are correct on this account. But I do not wish to allow my daughter or Neji to join this 'mission'. I demand that they be taken out of your 'roster' immediately."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Lord Hyuuga. I need those two and it wouldn't be fair if only you and your clan were exempt, now would it?" Tsunade smiled at him sweetly; though her eyes never changed from the cold, detached look she focused on him. "And also, do not presume to demand _anything_ of me. You will regret it if it happens again."

Hiashi growled angrily then sighed and looked resigned, but far from beaten. _I shall have to deal with this later..._ "Of course, Hokage-sama. My logic was flawed, I apologize." Hiashi bowed and stepped back from his chair, outwardly calm but heading for the door determinedly. He did not seem to want to spend one more second in the audience chamber. The other elders watched him go and there were more than a few angry glances at his back. Hiashi was not well liked, in or out of the Hyuuga Clan.

"Is that all the questions and concerns?" Tsunade looked around at the faces, some angry, some uncaring, some sad. However, most of the anger and sadness did not seem to be directed at her. Rather, most of it seemed to be directed toward this action they were being forced to take. "That is all then, if we are in agreement. It will be announced to the Genins tomorrow and they will leave two days after that announcement. Dismissed." Tsunade walked out of the audience chamber through the back door, taking a long, deep breath once she was out of sight. _Why did I ever agree to become Hokage!_

* * *

Naruto grinned as he walked down the street, heading for the training field. He had just been let out of the hospital this morning and already Obaa-san had sent a message about a mission and to meet at the training field. She must finally be ready to name him her successor and begin training him. Then he'd definitely beat Sasuke. 

Naruto turned the corner to the training field and stopped, his eyes widening at the sight. All the Genins were gathered there, not just him.

"Nani?" Everyone turned at the shout and half of the Genins groaned, the other half just rolling their eyes. "Wh-what are all of you doing here!"

Sakura sighed and looked over at Naruto, "Well, we're waiting for our 'mission' obviously, same as you. Honestly, do you always have to be so dense?"

"I'm not dense!" Naruto yelled at her as he walked up, looking around at the group gathered for some support.

"Yes you are, baka." Kiba yelled back at him. Shino and Neji just shook their heads, Hinata remained silent, and everyone else rolled their eyes.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Shut up before I kick you ass like before, dog-breath!"

"Bring it on, loser!" Naruto and Kiba immediately jumped at each other, resulting in a scuffle and the rest of the Genins sighed collectively. Hinata started trying to break the fight up but having little success.

"Troublesome Naruto…" Shikamaru sighed, looking up at the clouds and not noticing the rest of the Genins silently agreeing with him.

Finally, after about ten minutes, Naruto and Kiba had been broken up and everyone was still sitting around waiting for _someone _to arrive. Another ten minutes passed by, then another, until Naruto just couldn't take it anymore.

"This is boring! I want to get my mission so I can start training to get stronger!" Naruto shouted as he jumped up.

"_Our_ mission idiot, but for once you may be right. Who the hell is making us wait this long?" Sakura looked around at everyone but no had any ideas. Just as she stood up, however, a puff a smoke appeared in the center of the training field, revealing… Kakashi.

"Kakashi….." Naruto and Sakura immediately began advancing toward him angrily, looking about ready to flay him alive.

"Er, Hello everyone. Sorry I'm late, you see, I had to help the Hokage with some work, and…"

"Liar!" Naruto yelled at Kakashi, still advancing on him.

"Actually, Naruto, as hard as it is to believe, this time he is actually telling the truth… other than his stop at the book store…" Tsunade walked up from the path along with Kurenai, Gai, and Asuma, all of who were glaring at Kakashi. "Anyway, now that we're all here, I suppose we need to tell you about your mission. But first…" Tsunade pulled out a bottle from somewhere in her cloak and took a long drink from it, sitting down on a stump and look at the group of Genins collected.

"Well, let's see… To start… All Genin groups are now disbanded and Gai, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai will no longer be teaching you…"

"Nani!" Naruto shouted, jumping to his feet immediately, "But we haven't finished all our training yet!"

"Shut up Naruto. I'm not done yet," Tsunade sighed and looked at the group of Genins. _I really wish I didn't have to do this… Some of them are going to take it well, like Neji and Shino… Naruto will just see it as an adventure and Shikamaru will just complain no matter what… But the rest of them, I'm asking them to leave their entire lives behind…_ Tsunade sighed again then opened her mouth to continue.

"Now let me finish before you interrupt again. The reason the groups are being disbanded is because… I have formed new ones and in two days all of you will be leaving the village." All the Genins looked shocked at this, though Neji quickly regained his composure and looked directly at Tsunade.

"May I ask what the reason for this is, Hokage-sama? I was not aware that the village was being evacuated." Neji looked at Tsunade suspiciously, having realized that she was planning something as soon as she said they would all be leaving.

"It's not. Just you are leaving. We have decided that since all of you have special traits and abilities you need to be trained elsewhere at a more… specialized academy. A hidden one."

"Hah! I knew you'd realize that I'm strong eventually!" Naruto grinned at Tsunade, looking excited as usual and back to his former, hyperactive self. However, his eyes still held a concealed sadness from his incident with Sasuke, one that was likely never to go away.

"Naruto, if you interrupt me again, I will hurt you. And need I remind you that I said _all _of you were going? Yes, that includes you as well Shikamaru," Shikamaru groaned, lowering his hand and muttering something under his breath that sounded very much like 'troublesome', "Now, Kakashi will escort you as far as the edge of Fire Country after which you will be escorted by an instructor from the Academy. And no wearing those headbands, it's a _hidden _academy, meaning people are_ not supposed to know_ you are there."

"But Obaa-san…!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping up again only to have Tsunade's fist collide with the top of his head.

"No 'buts' Naruto and I told you not to interrupt me again! Now, there are two final pieces of business. First… What is it Ino?"

"Uh, Hokage-sama…" Ino spoke up, an annoyed look on her face, "What exactly is the _name _of this mysterious academy we have to go to? And exactly how long will we be staying? I'd at least like to know the name of this place and how long I'll be staying before I get shipped off there."

"Sorry Ino, but you'll have to find out the name when you get there. I can't tell you that right now, since we don't want it slipping out. As for how long… at least three years, perhaps more." Tsunade replied, watching their reactions carefully. All the Genins stiffened. They had expected perhaps a year, but three years or more? _They'll have to get used to the concept… God, I wish I didn't have to do this to them…_

"Back to what I was saying… First, your new teams. All teams will now consist of four instead of three, due to the fact that the Academy has requested it… The teams will be first: Chouji, Shino, Neji, and Tenten. Next: Sakura, Lee, Ino, and Shikamaru. And finally: Naruto, Hinata, Kiba, and… hmm, I forgot to add her in…" Tsunade scribbled some things down then continued her announcement, "and finally Shinaru Akita. And that brings me to my second announcement… Akita, a new Genin here, will be joining you…And that's it. I suggest you get used to your new teammates and go pack. You'll be leaving in two days." With that Tsunade stood up and walked back down the path with the Genin's previous senseis, leaving a large group of stunned Genins behind, all displaying mixed feelings. _I wish I didn't have to do that to them… It isn't fair, but if we only left with Naruto it would look suspicious and the others might get injured… I only wish I didn't have to ruin their lives to protect them… _Tsunade sighed and continued walking, realizing a long hard time was ahead of her.

Back at the training field the Genins were slowly separating and walking away, many with bewildered looks on their faces. Naruto seemed to be the only one who was actually excited and Neji and Shino displayed as little emotion as ever. Lee was crying in a corner and hugging is fuzzy eye browed sensei who had stayed behind to have a 'final farewell' with his favorite student. Sakura and Ino were arguing again as they walked, while Shikamaru mumbled to Chouji about how troublesome this whole 'mission' was. Three people, however, walked in silence for much of their way home. Hinata, Kiba, and Akamaru were side by side, each lost in their own thoughts, or dreams of dog treats. _I-I'm going to be on th-the same team as N-naruto-kun! B-but I'm not very st-strong… What if I m-mess up and he hates m-me…? _Hinata hugged herself, shivering as she realized it was cold. When she, Kiba, and Akamaru finally reached her clan's home, she said goodbye and walked toward the house as she thought about how to break the news to her father. Only when she had reached the front door did she remember something Tsunade had said and thought about it in surprise.

_Who is Shinaru Akita…?_

* * *

Two Days Later: December 20th 

The Genins had were fully packed and, after having said goodbye, were waiting at the North Gate for Kakashi who was going to escort them for the beginning of their journey. It was cold out and snowing, the biting wind making it even worse. _Fire country… Yeah, right, hate to see what it's like in countries that are actually supposed to be cold… _Ino complained to herself, before looking up at Sakura.

"Hey, forehead-girl, where's your stupid Sensei. We've been waiting for over an hour!" Ino glared at her, as if it were all her fault.

"How the hell should I know, Ino-pig?" Sakura glared back with equal intensity and everyone sighed. _These two are as troublesome as Kiba and Naruto… At least they won't be on the same team, but I have to do a troublesome thing and travel with them until we reach this Academy… _Shikamaru groaned and walked off to side so Ino wouldn't consider drawing him into this as she so often did.

"Well, he's _your _sensei, you should know!"

"He's not my sensei anymore Ino-pig, so there's no way I would know. I didn't even know why he was always late when he _was _my sensei."

"Just lack of awareness on your part, forehead-girl." Ino smirked superiorly; as if to say that _she _would never make a mistake like that.

"What did you say, Ino-pig!"

"You heard me, forehead-girl!"

Just as yet another fight was about to break out, a girl walked up, dressed in dark blue pants and a sleeveless white shirt. She was about average height and slender with long brown hair the fell across her shoulders and down her back. However, the alarming thing was that at her side walked… a small panther.

"Shinaru Akita. Nice to meet you all." Akita smirked slightly; looking around at them then blinked and began to stare straight at Kiba, who had begun staring back at her as well. Akamaru had jumped out of Kiba's coat and was staring at the panther with the same intensity that Kiba was staring at the panther's partner.

"Heh, you must be one of the Inuzukas, the clan that uses dogs for partners. Don't know why your family chose them; everyone knows that cats are much better fighters. And cuter too. Isn't that right, Teimichi?" Akita smirked again and leaned down to pet Teimichi (the panther), her eyes never leaving Kiba's.

"What was that! We just meet and already you're already insulting my family? How about we have a match then, to see who's better. Dogs or Cats." Kiba grinned and Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Kiba-kun… I d-don't think that Kakashi-sensei would want us to start fighting…" Hinata began but before she could finish Akita spoke up, her smirk back on her face.

"Sorry, but I don't fight those of the lesser race. After all, it wouldn't be fair, would it Teimichi?" Akita looked down at her partner who meowed her agreement.

"What! You insult me and then you're too much of a coward to…" Before Kiba could finish, a puff of smoke appeared, Kakashi standing in the middle of it as it dissipated.

"Sorry I'm late everyone. I had to help this little old lady by magazines at the book store and…well… I go so caught up I had to help her buy her groceries too and…"

"Liar! You were probably just stocking up on those perverted books of yours for the trip!" Naruto yelled at him, cutting off his excuse mid-sentence. Kakashi just grinned slightly raised a small bag over his back, which incidentally had one of those very books sticking part way out of it.

"Alright, I see you all have met Akita…" He looked over at Akita and Kiba, who were both still sending looks toward each other, "Right…is everyone ready to go then…? Er, Naruto…" Kakashi looked at Naruto who was trying to haul a large bag up to the gate along with his small one, while everyone else was carrying just one small traveling bag, "Naruto… exactly how much of that is ramen?"

"Well, the small one only has about a quarter of it ramen. The big bag is all ramen." Naruto grinned and continued to try futilely to haul the large bag up to the gate.

"Naruto… I think they'll have ramen at the Academy, you won't need that bag…" Kakashi walked over and picked up the large bag rather effortlessly, throwing it back out in the street and then preceded to haul a struggling Naruto out the gate while everyone groaned and began to walk down the path.

"But-but Kakashi-sensei! I need that!" Naruto shouted as Kakashi continued to haul him down the road even after the gates had closed. As they walked, Ino and Sakura continued to argue and Akita and Kiba continued to insult each other, Akamaru and Teimichi backing up their insults. Everyone else just sighed. It was going to be a long trip.

* * *

Naruto groaned and kicked a stone as he walked. It was still freezing and they'd been walking for two days straight, only stopping for about six hours of rest to sleep. Kakashi kept telling them that their escort was expecting to meet them today but Naruto just thought he had a sadistic sense of humor. No one felt like talking either, since Kakashi had yelled at Ino, Sakura, Kiba, and Akita for arguing after it had finally bothered even his patience and the silence was uncomfortable. Suddenly, they stopped. 

"Alright everyone, up ahead is the Hirano-gawa River and Outpost, the end of Fire Country. Once there, we'll head to the inn and meet up with the person who will be taking you to the Academy. Once there, your journey will truly begin." Kakashi said as they walked out of the forest and fell upon a huge river with icy water rushing down its banks. To the west Naruto could vaguely make out a small village near a bridge. They began walking towards it and soon were upon the village. They were given no notice as they walked in, the guards and citizens obviously used to ninja groups traveling through to get across the river. As Kakashi led them through town, Naruto watched for any ramen places, or restaurants that looked like they might have ramen, in case he might be able to stop by later. Eventually, they arrived at a rather beat down tavern and walked inside.

At first, Naruto thought there was something wrong with the lighting until he noticed that everything seemed to be dim on purpose. Various strong looking people sat at table, drinking. The atmosphere seemed very tense, and conversations seemed to be whispered only. Of course, all of this went way over Naruto's head.

"Kakashi-sensei! Which of these strong looking guys is him!" Naruto shouted, immediately drawing the attention of everyone in the bar, including his fellow Genins who looked at him like he was insane. Akita mumbled something about him being a complete idiot and Kiba shot her another look, thinking she had meant him. Kakashi took a deep breath and let it out, looking at Naruto and whispering.

"Naruto, be quiet. We don't need any more attention then we already have. We're already a large group and the cat and dog aren't making it any better. Your yelling is just going to attract trouble."

"But… They're all ignoring us…?" Naruto replied, having dropped his voice to at least a controlled level.

"Naruto… everyone has been observing us since we came in. Now the man we want to see is supposed to be upstairs, so let's go." With that Kakashi turned and was suddenly walking straight, his personality suddenly changing as he displayed his strength rather purposely and started leading the Genins directly up the stairs, with no regard for the looks he got as he did so. Neji quietly activated his Byakugan as he followed the rest of the Genins, surveying the men in the tavern carefully and being unsurprised when he noticed that each of their chakra streams was active. Once everyone was up the stairs he was the normal Kakashi again, looking bored and leading them to a rather in descript door off to the side of the hallway. He opened it and everyone walked inside.

It was a large room, what looked to be a dinning room with chairs lined up on either side of a table. The lighting was still dim but at the end of the table the Genins could vaguely make out a man dressed in black.

"Are these our new students?" Sakura's eyes widened as she heard his voice. She had expected an old man, at least in his thirties or forties but this man sounded young, maybe nineteen or twenty. As Kakashi nodded in response and he stepped into the light, Sakura literally gasped out loud.

The man was young; in fact he may have been as young as seventeen. He was wearing dark leather pants along with a black t-shirt. Across his back were strapped two swords whose hilts stuck up above his left shoulder. His hair was a deep black as well and his eyes were a rather piercing blue. However, he carried himself as if he was an Anbu and no one doubted his strength as he approached them.

"These are them," Kakashi confirmed a second time and then grinned, "You haven't changed a bit. Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"I can take care of it." The man's voice and facial expressions never changed, they were a constant monotone as he spoke, almost as if he was bored. His eyes displayed nothing of what he was thinking as he surveyed the Genins.

"Are you sure you can teach us? You seem pretty young… Are you even all that strong?" Naruto was looking at the man suspiciously, not seeming to trust him.

Suddenly, the man was besides Naruto, one of his swords laid across Naruto's neck, its black steel blade pressing into Naruto's skin. He didn't seemed to have moved, just to have been one place then suddenly another. His face still displayed no emotion but his voice went even colder as he spoke.

"I have killed more men than you would ever believe possible, brat. Do not insult me; if you do it again…" The man looked sideways, directly into Naruto's eyes, "I will kill you." Just as suddenly as he had appeared, he was back in front of Kakashi, his sword sheathed once again, making Naruto wonder if he really had moved. However, it was soon confirmed by the shocked looks on the other Genin's faces, even Neji's who had not been able to see him move even with his Byakugan activated.

"I will take them now and leave tomorrow morning. That means we shall arrive in three days time. You no longer need to worry about them." The mysterious man told Kakashi. Hinata blinked as she calculated the date in her mind. _We-we'll arrive two days before my birthday… _Hinata sighed and wondered why she cared. Her birthdays had never been a happy experience anyway. They had always been the anniversary of her mother's death, not her birthday. She'd never had a party and had always just celebrated alone or with her sister Hanabi. No one really cared as she got older anyway; she believed the servants actually dreaded it, because it meant that she was one year closer to taking over the family, and they all wanted Hanabi to be the heir instead of her. Hinata sighed again and looked up as Kakashi turned to look at the Genins.

"Alright, you'll be with him from now on. I'm going to head back." Kakashi went and picked up his pack and began walking towards the door, leaving everyone watching him in bewilderment.

"Wait! Kakashi-sensei, you're just going to leave us with some random guy who we don't even know!" Sakura shouted at him.

"You'll be fine; just don't tick him off. I got to be heading back, have some rea… er… missions to catch up on. Have fun!" Kakashi replied, waving a hand over his shoulder in farewell and already pulling out a book of _Icha Icha Paradise _as he walked out the door.

The mysterious man turned towards them and threw a set of keys at Neji, who caught them and looked at them in surprise.

"You'll need those. You will sleep here tonight. You are not allowed to leave the tavern. We leave at dawn tomorrow morning." He said sharply, heading out the door and looking to make his way to a room across the hall.

"W-wait!" Akita shouted after him, running to the entrance of the room. The man turned and raised an eyebrow, looking at her. "Who the hell are you!"

"Sawaki Reiko. I will be one of your instructors." And with that he turned and opened the door to his room, and entered, closing it firmly behind him. The Genins stood in shock, staring at the door. Neji was the first to recover, looking at the keys in his hand.

"Seems we're expected to deal with it ourselves for tonight. Well then, let's go." Neji walked out the door and the Genins slowly followed him. It was going to be a very long trip indeed.

* * *

_There, second chapter done, finally. Sorry that took me so long, I had to figure out how to start off the trip and introduce Akita and Reiko. Hope you enjoy it, even though there isn't really much NaruHina or fighting in this chapter. I'll have a lot more NaruHina in the works for the next chapter, so don't worry. If you see anything wrong, please tell me and _please review. _Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it so far._

_-Ryuu _


	3. Chapter 2: Arrival

**Can you save me…from myself?**

Chapter 2: Arrival

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any related items, just the storyline and my own characters.

_Genre: Romance/Action/Drama_

_Pairs: Naruto/Hinata (Main) Neji/Tenten, Sakura/Sasuke, Sakura/Lee, Ino/Shikamaru, Temari/Shikamaru, Akita/Kiba (Akita is a new Genin added in, Naruto and Hinata will advance every chapter, but I will switch out the others, making scenes with or two different pairs each chapter)_

"" – _Talking_

_Italics – Thoughts, or emphasis_

_(AN :….) – is an Author's Note_

_PoV Name – is a point of view change. These will be few and far between, as I prefer third person. However, important chapters or drama related ones may have PoV changes._

_Beats his head into the desk for not having wrote in months I really hated leaving this be, but lately I have had multiple real life issues to deal with (deaths in the faimily, going to the hospital, applying for my graduate next year, writing thesis papers, a job in software developing, and discussing a project about actually writing a book (that's a horrific experience!)) and couldn't get to this. However, now that the Term has started in earnest, I will be continuing this, and will be updating at the very least every three weeks, if not every one to two. I know a lot of people enjoyed this story and I hope you can forgive me for my lack of writing. For those of you, who are able, please review. I tried to write a really good chapter to make up for my lack of updates._

_Gomen nasai!_

_Ryuu_

_

* * *

_  
December 21st

Naruto groaned.

Their new sensei, 'Sawaki-sama' as they were required to call him (more accurately 'Saw_aa_k_ii_-baka in his opinion), had woken them up at an hour before the crack of dawn, way earlier than was necessary. _And _he said they would be waking up at this time every day from now till they left the Academy, the name of which he still hadn't 'deemed to give to them'. Now they were running around town, each with a different job, for some stupid grocery list that their 'sensei' just happened to 'need'. Naruto just happened to 'end up with' getting potatoes for the journey, the thought of which made him touch his head and wince in remembrance. _(AN: Play on Japanese words here in the first sentence, so I'll explain it. 'Sawaki' is a normal last name in Japanese. Conversely, Naruto has added 'Sawaa' instead of 'Sawa'. Normally 'Sawa' means a marsh or swamp and 'ki' means tree, wood, spirit, or mood. However, Naruto has played on the words, changing it to 'Sawaa' (sour) and 'kii' (strange), only a slight difference in pronunciation I believe. So in other words, he changed a bit of pronunciation and is now calling him an 'odd sour idiot', if you take each part literally. Slightly childish, but that's Naruto for you. Keep this is mind for when Sawaki gets mad at him for this name later)._

-Flashback to that Morning-

Sawaki looked out at the genins, who were still yawning and attempting to form a straight line in the dining hall, except for the few who actually woke up this early normally (namely Lee and Neji). He sighed, wondering again why he accepted the position at the academy, and decided to just deal with the annoyance in his typical attitude, "From this point forward, you are no longer ninjas. You are no longer citizens of whatever country you came from. You are now students of the Academy and as such, you have no rights, everything is a privilege. While with me, there will be three rules. Breaking any of this will result in punishment, breaking them multiple times will mean that you will not be sleeping in a tent when we camp, nor will you get any food. First, you will obey my orders without question. Second, you will not, under any circumstances, leave the group alone or without my permission. Third, you will not question anything I say and stay silent unless spoken to. Understood..? Good. Now, each of you will obtain one item from the market, no questions asked, and no debating. I assume you are in order as I told you, and this list is correct… Uzumaki Naruto? I need you to gather potatoes…"

"NANI! You want me to get potatoes! That's not…" Sawaki took out his sword at that moment and promptly hit Naruto on the head with its hilt, causing Naruto to yell out and curse, which in turn caused him to get hit yet again by Sawaki. Naruto was about to continue when someone reached out and touched his arm lightly. Naruto turned back in surprise to see Hinata pointing him back towards Sawaki, who was looking at Naruto coldly, his face once again brooking no emotion.

"You already broke the first and third rule. You _will _gather potatoes from the market, and I do _not _need to explain myself to you, brat."

"Jerk! I ought to…" Naruto never finished the sentence as Sawaki Sawaki had finally lost his patience and picked Naruto up by the scruff of his jacket, proceeding to through him out the upper window of the inn and into the street outside, which received either a shocked gasp from some of the genins or a chuckle from others (as well as stares at the window from the street below). The only two who didn't react were Shikamaru, who seemed to develop an even greater sense of annoyance in the mornings and Chouji, who was once again eating a bag of chips, even before most of the genins had gotten breakfast.

"Now, perhaps the rest of you will understand the rules. As I said before, each of you will obtain one item from the market, no questions asked, and no debating." Sawaki did not smile once during the entire affair, and even when the glass broke in the window and the owner of the inn came upstairs yelling, his facial expression did not change. He simply handed the owner of the inn some money and pointed him back down the stairs, returning to the genin at hand with barely a blink, even as Naruto spouted curse words that could easily be heard from the street below.

-End Flashback-

Naruto groaned again as he turned the corner and realized he was completely lost, as usual. This town was so confusing, there had to be a million streets just in the city itself, not to mention what was in the farming areas outside, and of course he had to go and get the stupid potatoes by himself, without even a map. He was still muttering as he walked down this new street, creating new curse words to describe 'Sawaakii-sama', when he heard a familiar voice in one of the alleys off to the side. Turning, Naruto's eyes opened wide at the scene before him.

"Hey babe, you lost? I can show you where to go, if you need a guide. Maybe we can go get a bite to eat, eh?" Two rough looking boys stood off to the side crowding a young girl that was pushed up against the wall and looked to be about Naruto's age. After a moment, Naruto blinked in surprise as he realized that the girl in question was Hinata.

"An-ano… I-I… I m-mean…" Hinata stood with the two boys off to the side in an alley holding a small sack of cloth, looking nervous and lost, not to mention scared at being crowded, her timid nature getting the better of her in the situation. She stared wide-eyed as she tried to form her words, shaking perceptibly as she backed into a corner, though whether it was from fear or simply timidity, she wasn't really sure. Naruto, being his typical impulsive self, didn't even bother to think about what he was doing as he dropped the potatoes to one side and ran into the alley, yelling as per his normal self.

"Hey, leave her alone you jerks!" The two boys immediately turned, looking in surprise at the strange boy in an almost annoyingly bright orange jumpsuit running towards them, seemingly out of the shadows. One of them started to advance at the insult, but as Naruto pulled a kunai, his friend grabbed his arm and shook his head, obviously being just slightly wiser than the other (though no where near that of any normal human being).

"Ah, man, it's not worth it. She's already with a guy, we're out of luck. Let's get out of here; we can find another girl. Don't leave your girlfriend out in the street alone next time, baka!" The one who had advanced on Naruto muttered in disappointment and the two boys walked off, looking for a new catch just as Naruto reached them, breathing heavily and looking at Hinata, who was still blushing madly from the 'girlfriend' comment, and too embarrassed to say anything.

"Are you… alright… Hinata-chan?" Naruto took a breath and stood back up from where he had been leaning on his knees, watching Hinata closely as he caught his breath and replaced his kunai in a belt pouch.

"An-ano… H-hai… I j-just… g-got lost. Gomen, I d-didn't mean to trouble you, N-Naruto-kun." Hinata blushed as she was still breathing heavily, staring at the ground in embarrassment after Naruto's rescue. _H-he probably thinks I'm weak now…I-I couldn't even handle two normal boys…_

"Great! Those guys were jerks; you should be careful Hinata-chan! I'm lost too, anyway, so we can try and find the inn…" Naruto turned around quickly, obviously intent on starting that right away, but as she looked for his bag of potatoes he groaned for quite literally the thousandth time that day. Looking over to where he had set it down on the ground, he saw that it had fallen over and rolled, directly into a large puddle of mud and what looked to be gasoline, making it utterly unusable. Hinata blinked when Naruto abruptly cut off, looking around his shoulder to see his ruin of the bag of potatoes and grimacing at the sight as Naruto muttered under his breath. "Dang it! Now I have to go get _another _bag and I'm going to get lost _again_…" Naruto grumbled yet another time and walked over, picking up the bag and looking at it in disgust as the soggy potatoes dripped onto the ground.

Hinata bit her lower lip, watching Naruto mutter about the bag as she walked slowly up to him. "Ano… I-I… can help y-you, if you want, N-Naruto-kun…We can go get another bag, I-I have th-the carrots Sawaki-sama told me to get, and s-since it was my f-fault anyway…"

Naruto blinked and looked at Hinata in surprise. "Really? Um, Thanks…" Naruto was uncharacteristically awkward for a moment, not used to people taking time to help him, since the people in Konoha had always seemed to enjoy watching him get in trouble, but he covered it up with one of his usual grins, "Let's go then! Er… Which way to the market?" Naruto looked around, and muttered about confusing cities under his breath, causing Hinata to giggle nervously as she pointed to the right. They started off down the road toward the market, Naruto talking almost non-stop as usual and Hinata listening in silence, making an occasional comment on this or that, however not concentrating so much on Naruto's actual words but rather at his appearance. Though he was utterly lost in the city and still suffering from a bruise where he had landed on the street earlier, he seemed happier than she had seem him since the incident with Sasuke, sincerely content just to be talking to her. _Talking to m-me..? N-no, h-he's just happy t-to have anyone t-to talk to…_Hinata sighed, but having been paying so much attention to Naruto-kun, she didn't notice a set of lines in front of a hill to one side of the street, and with her usual luck, she ran directly into it, tripping and heading sideways toward the hill. Naruto attempted to grab her before she went down, but only succeeded in falling along with her, both of them rolling down the hill, Naruto with his arms around Hinata after having tried to catch her. Luckily, no one was in sight on the out of the way area near the bottom of the hill, though the two genins were not caring much about public embarrassment once their roll down the snow drift had stopped.

They had ended at the bottom of the hill by rolling directly into a pile of snow, Hinata lying underneath Naruto and looking up at him, with Naruto stopping himself from falling onto her by placing his elbows on either side. Both of the genins were blushing furiously, rather surprisingly on Naruto's part, and Naruto attempted to make a joke but fell into silence, staring at Hinata. Hinata blushed even worse under his gaze, shivering a bit in the cold snow and looking away from Naruto's eyes.

"An-ano… N-Naruto-kun… Why are y-you staring..?" Naruto blinked in surprise, not having noticed he was staring himself, and immediately made up an excuse without really thinking about it, standing up and pulling Hinata with him as he tried to reign in his blush. _Crap, she noticed me… She was just beautiful in that position… Heck, she beautiful period, wonder how I didn't notice that before… Where the hell did that come from! I like Sakura-chan …Weird thoughts gotta come up with an excuse…_

"Just, you were all wet, and your jacket's soaked, and I was thinking about breakfast, and…" Naruto rambled on, making up a series of random excuses, most of which had nothing to do with their situation at all, but Hinata just shook her head in embarrassment, staring at the ground. She realized what he had said earlier was correct, however, when she looked at her jacket, which had been soaked by puddles hit on the way down, and her fall into the snow. She began shivering, taking off the coat she normally wore, leaving her in just a short sleeve blue shirt that only caused Hinata to shiver more and rub her own arms with her hands in a vague attempt to warm herself. (AN: If anyone can actually find a picture of her w/o the jacket, I'd appreciate it, link it in a review or something :)) Naruto watched her for a moment in surprise, realizing he had never seen her without the jacket, then nearly hit himself for being a idiot and took his own jacket off, taking hers from her and wrapping his own around Hinata's back gently. Hinata froze in the action of warming her arms and formed a dark blush on her cheeks, staring up at Naruto in surprise, then immediately looking back down again.

"An-ano, D-Don't you need…" Hinata gestured to the jacket, not trusting herself to talk beyond that as she continued staring down at her feet in embarrassment and attempted to control her blush.

"Nah. I'll be fine, besides you're the one who's wet and shivering." Naruto looked around, the entire situation rather lost on him, and then blinked, seeing another street nearby and at the end of it, the marketplace. "Look Hinata-chan! There's the market; come on, let's go so we can get back to the inn. Maybe that idiot Kiba will be there, or Sakura-chan, they'll know where the inn is." He immediately started off toward the street, leaving Hinata to catch up with him. She hugged his jacket around her as she hurried up to him, looking at her feet and lost in her own thoughts as he started rambling again, as if nothing had happened. _N-Naruto-kun…Will I ever b-be able to t-tell you...? N-no, it's better if I-I don't… _Hinata sighed and looked over toward Naruto, smiling slightly and deciding to leave her gloomy thoughts behind and instead concentrate on Naruto's description of yet another ramen shop he had seen while walking. _At least, f-for now, I can be w-with him…

* * *

_

"Hey, you, kid, get back here! Your dog stole my sausage!" Everyone in the market turned toward the shout and saw a man running down the street, holding an empty hot dog container in one of his hands as he clawed his way through the crowd, chasing a boy and a small white dog. The boy turned down an alleyway, grinning, and hiked himself up a wall with a couple of kunai, his dog in his jacket as he pulled himself up onto the roof, breathing heavily. By the time the man was able to follow him into the alleyway, the boy had already disappeared and was no where to be found. At least, as far as non-shinobi were concerned.

"Ready boy?" Kiba grinned at his dog, looking over the side of the roof to see the man futilely try to figure out where he and Akamaru had gone. Akamaru replied with a yip and jumped out of Kiba's jacket, positioning himself on the side of the roof, the sausage still clutched in his mouth. "Alright, mark him Akamaru!" Akamaru jumped into the air, sending a stream of yellow directly onto the man's bald head, before landing back on the roof as Kiba erupted in laughter. The man shouted from the alleyway below and yelled up at the two, degrading them and cursing them with everything he could think of. After awhile a few attempts to scale the wall to reach them, which ended in his falling into a garbage can, he left, still muttering curses under his breath about boys and their stupid dogs.

"Isn't that a little immature for a ninja..? Oh right, of course, I forgot, you an Inuzuka. Dogs are notoriously immature, so this is no surprise." A girl's voice emanated from behind the two and Kiba spun around, groaning as he saw Akita sitting behind him; her stupid fluff ball of a cat Teimichi looking at them from her lap with what Kiba could have swore was a look of absolute superiority.

"Shut up! Why is it every time I see you, you insult my family? Stupid cowardly cat lovers…" Kiba yelled at her, the last sentence muttered under his breath as Akamaru growled at the cat, his fur bristling on end. Teimichi simply gave Akamaru that look of haughtiness, licking her paw unconcernedly and ignoring the growl, and not surprisingly, Teimichi's look was mimicked by Akita as she watched Kiba.

"I'm just stating the truth. I mean, what kind of ninja let's their pet steal _sausages_ from random people of the street. Teimichi would never do that, would you girl?" Akita smiled at her panther, petting her head and scratching her ears, though she never took her eyes off Kiba. "Have you even finished the errand Sawaki-sama gave you? Or is that too hard for a dog-breath like you?"

Kiba glared angrily at her in return, holding up a sack of meat, though it was so crushed from being thrown around it was impossible to tell exactly what kind of meat it was. "Right here, what about you, _akitaken_? I don't see you with anything, or are you still looking for little toy mice for that thing in your lap?" _(AN: Knowing she hates dogs, Kiba is using 'akitaken' (a word denoting a small breed of dog, sort of like an orange fox) to insult her)_

Akita chuckled back at him in contempt and pulled out a box from behind her back, opening it to show rows of kunai stacked and laid in rows. "I was done thirty minutes ago, after we started. Figures that Sawaki-sama would give the job of meat to the dogs, he knows cats are superior; after all, he let us acquire the weapons for him. Sawaki-sama puts a high priority on weapons; probably more than that sickening excuse for food you're carrying. And by the way, I kind of like 'Akita-ken', I think I'll allow you to call me it." Akita smiled back at him, daring him to take the bait and ask a question so she could taunt him again. A smarter man would have left it at that, letting her have the last word and just headed back to the inn, of course, this was Kiba, and he was hardly going to let a _cat _have the last word on him. _(AN: Akita is responding with 'ken' being used as a title, meaning empress, or here, Empress Akita. Bunch of weird Japanese puns going on here, sorry if you're missing them)_

"Feh, like I would ever consider a _cat _above me. And how would you know what Sawaki-sama puts a high priority on? We only met him yesterday, or are you already cuddling up to you new 'owner' like a good little kitten?" Kiba smirked back at Akita as he spoke, obviously believing he had the upper hand, and Akamaru backed him up with a small yip. Akita just watched him for a moment, a strange glint her eyes as she allowed him to believe he had had the last word, before stretching and responding.

"Well, I've already done some research while you were playing in the streets, and discovered Sawaki-sama's room is covered in different types of weapons. You see, I try to learn about who's teaching me, so I know what to expect, something that _you _have probably never thought of. But then, you can't expect much from dogs, can you Teimichi?" Teimichi purred in agreement to Akita, licking her cheek and throwing a covert glance at Akamaru. Kiba was silent in his shock for a moment, the growled and turned away, heading for the ladder on the other side of the roof, muttering under his breath, _Spying to learn what to expect… yeah right… more like so you can be the new sensei's pet cat_. Akita smirked at his back and stood, placing Teimichi on the ground and the both followed Kiba and Akamaru off the roof and into the nearby alleyway and out to the street, where Kiba stopped, staring at a vendor on the other side of the market. Akita followed his gaze to see the two other genins on their squad, the yellow-haired boy with the orange jacket, which happened to be on the shy girl next to him now, the one normally wearing the gray jacket the boy currently had slung over his shoulder. While she had to wonder why they had swapped jackets, one look at Kiba's face told her the opportunity to needle him about it was simply too good to pass up.

Akita leaned in behind Kiba, grinning and whispering in his ear, "Oh, hey look, that other guy is getting pretty cozy with the girl, eh? They even switched jackets. She probably figured out that he's better than some pathetic excuse for a ninja and his little puppy." Kiba jumped away from her in shock, having forgotten she was there, and growled angrily, sending a glare her way and spitting on the ground to show what he thought of her comment.

"It's not like that, idiot; Hinata is just too good for him. He's dead last anyway; he could never be with the Heir to Hyuuga." Content with his explanation, Kiba headed over to their stand, Akamaru at his side, and a smirking Akita and Teimichi behind him. As he was about halfway across the street, Hinata and Naruto turned around. Upon seeing him Hinata waved, and Naruto groaned, but they both waited till Kiba and Akita caught up to them. Hinata frowned as she noticed Kiba's bad attitude and Akita's smirk behind him, guessing at what had happened, but that all went over Naruto's head, as usual.

"Hey, dog-breath, you lose a bone or something? You look like you want to rip out somebody's throat." Naruto grinned at him, one hand holding Hinata's wet jacket to his shoulder and the other shoved deep into a pocket. He was obviously freezing, even Akita had a jacket on, but he gritted his teeth and faked being oblivious to the cold, even as his arms shook.

"Nothing you need to worry about, dead last. Just some problems with the local kittens," Kiba shot a look at the smirking Akita before pointing at Hinata's jacket, his voice sounding slightly annoyed, "What about you? Accidentally do something stupid again and get Hinata all wet? At least you had the common courtesy to give her your jacket, though I never would have expected chivalry from you."

Hinata blushed and spoke up, cutting Naruto off before he could reply, "N-Naruto-kun tried to stop m-me from f-falling… I-it wasn't his fault…" Hinata's blush grew deeper as she realized how it must look and she stared at her feet, not meeting anyone's eyes. There was an awkward silence for a moment before Naruto started fidgeting, cold and not enjoying standing out in the snow.

"Hey, let's go back to the inn already. Sawaakii-baka told us to be back before dawn and the suns starting to rise. Besides, it's _cold _out here." Naruto turned and was about to start walking when he realized he still didn't know where the inn was. He turned back to the others with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his head, "Er, which way's the inn?" Akita rolled her eyes, sighing, and pointed to the street leading south and the four genins started out, Hinata still silent and embarrassed, Naruto rambling on about how confusing the city was and his new training exercises, Akita going back to her favorite pastime of annoying Kiba, and Kiba glowering at Hinata wearing Naruto's jacket and yelling back at Akita's comments.

* * *

The wind rushed into the inn as the door swung open, hitting the wall with a crack and ushering in the four genin, the last to arrive just minutes before dawn. The inn was deserted this early in the morning, except for the genins who had already made their way back to the inn more than a half hour ago, and seemed a darker place because of it. The genins who had already arrived were arranged around the hearth, the fire contained within it heating the room with what little it could, and they all looked up as the last four to arrive entered the room, then each went back to their own business, waiting for their new teacher to descend the stairway and announce it was time to leave. Shikamaru stretched and went back to staring at fire, mutter a 'troublesome' which rewarded him with a bump on his head from Ino, who had tired of his annoying lack of vocabulary. Shino stood in a corner, glancing up to look at the group before going back to a book he was reading, something labeled 'bugs' (the rest obscured by his hand) and Chouji was actually attempting to roast a sausage in the fireplace, though with little success. Sakura didn't glance up for a but a second before going back to arguing with Lee, who she was futilely trying to get to give up his green leotard in favor of something more normal. Tenten sat with Neji, trying to talk with him, but as soon as Hinata entered the room he stared at her, refusing to make even the few comments he had made before as he took in the scene of her in Naruto's jacket. His eyes slowly went cold and he looked at Naruto, who was still holding Hinata's jacket in his arms and rambling on about something idiotic. Neji slowly stood and was about to draw Hinata off to the side to talk to her when he felt a hand on his arm and he blinked, looking down in surprise. 

Tenten quietly shook her head as she spoke, showing that strange ability she had to restrain Neji, and whispered to him, "Leave them be. You can reprimand her later, but look at Hinata for a moment before you do anything." Neji's eyes narrowed at the rebuke and he turned, taking a closer look at Hinata and noticed a light in her eyes he hadn't seen for a long time, a happiness that lit her face when talking to Naruto. He sighed in defeat and nodded to Tenten, sitting back down, and Tenten smirked at the small victory she had gained. Those that could change Neji's mind were few and far between.

Just moments after all this had taken place, the door at the top of the stairway opened and Sawaki walked down silently, watching his new charges that seemed not to have noticed him. Except for the two on the couch, the girl and the boy with the pure white eyes, who had looked at him as the door opened. _I'll have to keep track of those two… _Sawaki tapped is sword on the wall twice and the talking stopped, every eye turning towards him as he gracefully 'floated' into the main room. He nodded when he saw everything he requested had been gathered and that the genins were already packed, walking over to stand in the center of the group, his face completely emotionless as usual.

"Gather up your possessions and the items I requested, you will be required to carry them all on your backs for the three days we are traveling. I will provide enough food and water to survive on, along with tents. We're leaving immediately." Sawaki did not wait for them to pick up their bags but instead headed directly for the door, opening it and stepping outside, leaving the surprised genins to grab their bags quickly and head outside, following their new teacher, 'Sawaki-sama', down the road to an unknown destination, now fully abandoning all they had ever known in their lives.

* * *

December 24th 

Hinata pulled on a branch that had caught her clothing and sighed, already wondering when they were going to reach 'the Academy', though it was only early morning. It had already been three days since they started out and the snow had not let up, if anything it had only fallen harder, and everyone was exhausted from the grueling pace Sawaki-sama had set, even Naruto who hadn't talked as much as normal the entire day. She missed his voice, something she blushed at the thought of, even if only she knew the truth, but she was glad that he hadn't given Sawaki-sama another reason to speed up the pace again. Her thoughts were suddenly cut short, however, as she bumped into the orange object in question, hurriedly apologizing then letting her words fall short as she saw what he was staring at.

Below her sprawled the black, marble walls of a huge complex that was laid out across the entire eastern side of a valley floor, backed up against a set of black cliff faces. But what really took her breath away was what was contained inside it. 'The Academy', as she now knew that it was, was not a simple school, but rather a citadel that rose upwards at layers, starting with a lower level that made up what could only be described as a small city. This city seemed even more advanced than other Hidden Villages she had seen, made mostly out of a dark red wood that looked to come from the forest sprawled below it, and the sides were closed in by black cliffs as well that Hinata was barely able to make out a few caves on. As her gaze rose upwards to the next level, Hinata blinked in surprise, feeling that she could actually see a line dividing the two levels, though whether it was just a feeling or an actual line created by the change in color and scenery, she wasn't sure. The second level was make completely out of black marble and wood, surrounded by yet another wall, and looked to have numerous fields where she could see people moving about, though not quite in the quantity contained by the city below. Somehow, she knew this was their new 'training camp', for lack of a better term, and shuddered slightly. It looked so bleak. _Ah well, at least we'll be together... I hope…_ Hinata sighed again and then blinked as she realized that the others were looking even farther up the cliffs and she followed their line of sight, gasping as she witnessed what was built above the middle level. Built straight into the wall was a literal palace, a huge expanse of building that stretched across the top, seeming to be a hawk looking down upon the levels below it, if a hawk was built out of black marble, wood, and grey stone and looked like a palace for the empires of old, when dynasties ruled. Hinata wondered who lived in that type of place, even as she vaguely noticed Sawaki-sama turning and looking at the group staring at the area that was laid out on the valley floor below them.

"This is your last chance to turn back. If you move beyond this point, you will not be allowed to leave till your training period is finished, even if you are on the recommendation of Tsunade…" When no one answered him, Sawaki shrugged unconcerned and continued, "Then welcome to the Hidden Village of Kouryou. This will be your home for the next three years, at least, unless of course, you die during that time period. From this point onward all your ranks are stripped, no one will really care who you are, or what happens to you. You are all now _Gesu_, and will be considered as such by everyone you encounter. If you happen to have even an average amount of talent, which I doubt, you just might earn the right to be called otherwise. Until then, you are _Gesu, _and will be expected to follow the rules of the Ryuuguu. And the final warning I shall ever give you…" Sawaki's eyes actual hardened even more, and he stared at the genins for a moment before continuing his sentence, "If you ever get called up to the Ryuuguu, the estate up on the higher level, don't expect to come back down without a wound or two, if at all…" Sawaki looked down at the genins with what Hinata thought looked like a sneer before he turned away and began walking toward a small path leading down into the valley, causing the new 'students' to gather their things and rush after him. _(AN: I think a bit of this was lost on some of you, so I'll do my best to explain it. A 'gesu' (I think this term may have been used in the Fruit Basket Manga, not sure, so some people might be familiar with it) is a menial, or person of low class. In other words, a peasant. Very little respect is granted to people at this level. Chuuryuushakai is "Middle-Class' while Gami is 'Upper-Class'. As for Ryuuguu and Kouryou, I want to see if you guys can find the meanings of those :) A cookie to whoever does, keep in mind Kouryou has two meanings. If no one finds it before I release the next chapter, I'll give the translations there.)

* * *

_

Naruto was completely oblivious. More so than normal, if one watched him closely. His eyes were trained completely on Ryuuguu, the school on the middle level, while everyone else was looking around and observing the city. And while the others were gauging their surroundings, Naruto was yelling at Sawaki-sama again, making an annoyingly loud racket.

"Hey, Sawaakii-sama? How big is this place? I want to get to training, not walk around in a market al…" Naruto was abruptly cut short as the hilt of a sword crashed into is mouth, knocking him to the ground and creating a rather large gash on his chin.

"Do not speak to me unless spoken to, brat. And… it's Saw_a_k_i_-sama." Sawaki muttered under his breath about annoying brats and continued walking, not even waiting for Naruto to get back to his feet before resuming his pace. The other genins walked by as Naruto growled, wiping the blood from his mouth and spitting a bit onto the ground, then blinking and looking up as he noticed someone had stopped just above him.

"A-ano, here N-naruto-kun…" Naruto looked up to see Hinata above him, holding out a small container of the same medicine she had given him at the Chuunin Exam. He grinned and took it from her, putting a small drop on his lip and chin before handing it back as the wounds healed at their usual abnormally fast rate.

"Thanks, Hinata-chan! Stupid jerk, all I did was ask when we would get there…" Naruto started walking quickly to catch up with the group, leaving Hinata to rush after him as he mumbled about 'Sawaakii-sama' and was yet again completely oblivious. Hinata sighed sadly. She had always hated it when people fought; it always made her feel weak and helpless when she couldn't do anything. She knew she was useless, of course, but it hurt to be reminded of it and to not be able to help her friends or… _N-naruto-kun…_ Hinata sighed again and her thoughts slowly began to fall back toward her birthday. _I-I wish it wouldn't come so s-soon… On-only seven years th-then they'll ex-expect me to b-be the H-head… I w-wish Neji-nii-san c-could b-be head… H-he wouldn't be s-so useless..._ Hinata dreaded her birthday this year, because her father had been a Chuunin at thirteen and had expected the same of her, and she hadn't even been able to get to the final round. Maybe she would have a better birthday this year, because she would be away from her family. _N-no… I-it will always b-be the an-anniversary of M-mother's death… B-but maybe N-naruto will… N-no… I c-can't tell h…_

"Hey, Hey, Hinata-chan, when do you turn thirteen? Everyone else is thirteen already, but I never heard that you were!" Naruto-kun. Oh no. Everyone was staring at Hinata now as they walked and she slowly turned red and looked at the ground, her bangs obscuring her eyes. Neji looked at her sideways and winced slightly, though only Tenten noticed, and even Kiba blinked and stopped yelling at Akita. _Have we ever celebrated her birthday…?_

"An-ano… D-December…Tw-twenty… S-s-seventh…" Hinata managed to get out in a slightly choked voice, suddenly even more timid and awkward than before. She turned redder and continued staring at the ground as they walked. Around her she heard shouts of "Oh, that's wonderful Hinata-chan!", "We'll have to get you a present!", "Hey, baka, why didn't you tell us!", "Great! We can have a party to celebrate!" but this only resulted in her drawing in on herself more. Neji through her a worried look, but everyone else seemed oblivious to the fact that she didn't seem to be enjoying the attention, even Naruto who was asking her worriedly what she wanted for her birthday, obviously having no clue what to get or about the fact that she didn't seem happy. Thankfully, she was saved at that moment by no other than Sawaki, though not out of any type of grace, but rather by the fact that they had arrived.

"At attention, brats. We've arrived at your home for the next three years." They all looked up at the huge black gate standing in front of them with 'Ryuuguu' labeled clearly in its top frame. With a loud creak it slowly began to open, and Sawaki announced in his now familiar emotionless voice.

"Welcome to Ryuuguu, brats."

* * *

_Alright, there's chapter three, hope you all enjoy it! Couple of NaruHina moments, next chapter will be devoted to three main points:_

_-The Genins settling into Ryuuguu and meeting some of the teachers, as well as some introductions to the deeper plot (very large plot planned, so this may actually take 5-6 chapters at the very least to introduce it all)  
_

_-Hinata's Birthday_

_-My edited version of Hinata's mother's death, explanation, and a really long and fluffy NaruHina part :)_

_Thanks for reading and please review! Gomen, Gomen, Gomen, Gomen, Gomen, Gomen, Gomen, Gomen, Gomen, Gomen, eto… Gomen x 1000000000 for not updating sooner!_

_Ryuu-kun_


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